Vanity Fin

Kipp sent in this photo the other day. He had a huge bathroom mirror just give way and crash to the ground. Luckily no one was in the bathroom at the time. 

In the middle of cleaning up he finds this piece of mirror. Any other person would have through it right away. Only a surfer would find fascination in it so much they felt compelled to photo it and share it with their friends. Who, being surfers themselves, all said "wow! that looks like a sweet single fin!"

Wicked Good Wood - Mini Boards

Cowboy Dan has been at it again and making some amazing new mini boards. All from scrap wood. These things are so beautiful and he has been going nuts on the stands. A bunch of you took us up on our offer for a blank. I'll see if I can get more. Once you are are done send them in so we can show them off. If you want to own one of these contact me and I'll put you in touch with Dan. He puts a lot of tme and love into these boards. He would be stoked to see these on people's walls.  Enjoy.

Lauren At Work

Our neighborhood is pretty unique. It seems that just about everyone is self employed.  We all work out of our home office a.k.a. garage. It's a pretty cool place to live. The fun thing about it is that when the garage is open you get to drop in, hang out and get inspired by what everyone is doing. Erik and Lauren's place is sort of ground zero for inspiration. Erik is usually working on something cool. He is the most uniquely gifted guy I know. He can seriously do anything. Lauren is the quite artist who works late and is mellow as she paints away. Here are a few shots that I took off of Erik's computer that show Lauren in her "Office". It just reminded me of a typical day here. Enjoy.

Sneak Peek - Garage Bat Tail Quad

Kipp has been at it again. I got this shot from him today of his latest work in progress, an  om age to Sea Surfboards. This board is a 5'10" Bat Tail Quad with single, to double, back to single concave. His boards are super fun as I have been lucky enough to be borrowing one right now. Kipp was telling me today that he was completely self taught and has been having a blast making these. If you ever see one of these boards in person you'd be amazed that they are made in his garage. The guy has some skill. I can't wait to try this one out! 

Local Guys Rule

David is a unique photographer. He gets just as much, if not more, excitement out of shooting the local guy as he does the pros. There is a certain sense of satisfaction he gets when he sends the best shot of a guy's life to him and they have it framed and put on their wall. The stoke the average guy gets is so amazing that it just makes him feel good to deliver that moment in time. Here is a good example of this. David shot these last summer of a guy, met him after his session and sent over the photos.  The guy was blown away.  Enjoy.

Shannon and Her Wax Buddy

The guys at Wax Buddy sent me a box of their famous wax combs to give out to people who do our dirty wax art project. Shannon was the first to send one in and scored the first one. Here she is with her new Wax Buddy in hand. Her boyfriend Chris Miller did a great job with the photo shoot. Little does she know that he is going to walk off with that as soon as she sets it down. Enjoy your photo Shannon. You'll never see it again.

Mini Frankenreiter

Drive Thru Australia 2 was a huge success. People were lined up down the street to get in. I, like other parents in the crowd, had big hopes of making this my daughter's first surf premier. Although we were lucky enough to make it in the door and get some good seats we never made it long enough to see the film.  I guess seeing Disney films at the corporate theaters never prepared her for the energy of a packed, surf starved, La Paloma crowd. Once the free shwag started to fly she made up her mind that she would rather be home watching Cinderella instead. As much as I wanted to see the film, I took one for the team and went home. Oh well maybe next year.

The above shots are of a local grom who not only got to see the film but came out inspired. Donavan instantly became his new hero and so he went home and worked on his new look. The mustache was courtesy of Chris Cote at Transworld Surf but the attitude is all his own.

Lucas

I was down at Cardiff the other day and ran into Lucas and his dad. Here are a couple of shots of him and his first free board. Lucas was having a great time and I had a blast shooting him. I was just so stoked, I've known him since he was a baby and now he's hang'n ten.  Enjoy.

David

Drive Thru Australia 2 Tonight 7 & 9 pm

This should be fun. I had a great time at the New Zealand one last year. They always have lots of giveaways and the crew always shows up and tells stories. 

Custom Surfboards & Fins by Mike Slingerland & John Peugh

I got a call from Chris Del Moro the other day he was telling me about some amazing boards that Mike Slingerland & John Peugh were making. He thought they would make a great post and that the Leucadia Project would be a nice fit to showcase them. I said sure thing and figured I would run into John sometime out in front of his house and take a few shots. About an hour later I am driving home from my kids music class and I drive up and see John walking with his new custom fins in hand on his way to Mike's house. Before you know it I am checking out some of the coolest surfboards and fins I have seen. Wow, I'm talking real pieces of art! Super high end custom longboards and big wave guns all with custom fins. The big wave balsa gun won 2nd place at the Del Mar Fair this year. If you are interested in purchasing boards or custom fins they can be contacted at: Local2@att.net

Here is some additional information regarding Custom Surf Fins by Mike Slingerland and John Peugh:

Mike Slingerland first started shaping surfboards in 1968 for Hansen's, and in 1970 he began working with Surfboards Hawaii. For the past 35 years, Mike has been shaping his own line of custom surfboards in Encinitas.

John Peugh has lived in Encinitas for 65 years and started surfing in 1956. His love of surfing and woodworking first led to the creation of his custom fins and bent-wood nose and tail blocks 10 years ago, and he has been making them ever since.

All of the fins are hand made with the pattern design and woodworking done by John, and the fiber glassing and color inlay done by Mike

Dreams Do Come True - Free Boards, Photo Shoots and Burritos

My friend Lucas Foster, 14, had his dreams come true last week when Iron Cross picked him up as a team rider. While hanging out at Cardiff doing his thing the guys at Iron Cross noticed him for his style and attitude and offered him a spot on the team. With that spot comes the dream, free boards, photo shoots and burritos.  

Apparently they are making him a board as I write. In the mean time, here he is out at Cardiff riding their 10'2" Mother Load. Lucas' dad Aaron is a long time friend and is happily living his life through Lucas and his brother Logan. The best thing about Aaron is that he has no ego. As long as he gets to tag along on the surf trips and hang out in the factory he is a happy camper. As a parent who grew up surfing this is like a second chance.  

My hat goes off to Iron Cross for picking a solid kid. I've known Lucas since he was 1 and couldn't be happier for him.  Iron Cross was the brand of the Longboard Grotto, a Leucadia staple for years. I heard that the brand is under new ownership.  I'm glad it isn't dead. I just hope they bring back Dennis Murphy to shape a few boards as well for old time sake.

Rainbow Keels - By Shawd DeWitt

Alright, these are the coolest keels I've ever seen. These are real LokBox fins made from fiberglass, resin and resin tint. Shawd DeWitt from Rainbow Fins just sent them in. I was seriously blown away. I love the colors and the looseness of the color flow. I don't know about you but I want a set. Enjoy.

A Little Sompin' Sompin' To Keep you Going

When it gets really small we need a vision of what to look forward to. Here are some shots from David of last winter to keep you going. Enjoy.

I Heart Leucadia

I took this shot at Rodney's house a while back and forgot all about it. When I was digging through some old photos it jumped out at me. To me it is a good representation of Leucaida.  It is a bit funky, rough around the edges, beautiful and filled with lots of love and soul. Enjoy.

Smarter Then Your Average Wiener Dog

My dog Oscar is well known for his love of his ball. I put his devotion to the test and he passed. I was surprised that the smelly wax ball didn't in the least interest him. I have to admit he is focused.

Little Wood Fish

Cowboy Dan blew me away when he stopped by and gave me this little wood fish he made out of leftover wood from the Murphy Ranch shaping floor. He is getting pretty good with this wood stuff and apparently he has a bunch more he has made and will share with us later.  I was so stoked to have this little wood fish that I instantly put it up on the mantel for me to look at each day. Thank you Dan for the collectors item. It is amazing!

For those of you wood shop grads out there. Dan has promised to make some blanks for us to shape our own boards. If any of you out there want to try your hand and shaping a little wood board let us know. We'll hook you up with a blank while supplies last.

The Man Behind the Curtain

Two years ago this month I was in a hospital room at Kaiser recovering from surgery. That night I had my appendix removed. At some point in the night I hear this guy get rolled in after his own surgery to my room. In hospitals you never know who you are going to get. The curtain was closed and all I could do was listen to the him tell the nurse that he was in a surfing accident. 

With that information I started a conversation through the curtain. It turned out that the guy next to me was Mike Davis, a local business owner and Grandview local who happened to surf in the same spot as me but we had never met until then.  Over the next two days Mike and I bonded as we went through the experience of hospitalization together. When we got out we remained friends and still surf together.  

Here is a shot of Mike in Cabo. He spends a good deal of his vacation time down there with his friends. When he is not surfing Grandview or Cabo he is busy cleaning up toxic properties to make our community a cleaner place. Thanks Mike for keeping me company and for dedicating your life to make this world a cleaner place.

Dirty Wax Art - Flower by Shannon

Chris Miller's better half gave me a dirty wax flower. Shannon, who is great and very understanding of Chris's tee shirt and surf habit is the first non surfing girlfriend to send in a sculpture. Thank you Shannon for keeping this project alive!

As a motivator we have teamed up with the Wax Buddy to hook you budding artists up. I will be selectively (has to be local) distributing some free Wax Buddies to those of you who show us a little something special in the fine art of dirty wax sculpture.  Some of you might make it on the Wax Buddy Blog as well. It is a fun site. Check it out here.  

I'f you've never seen the Wax Buddy check it out. It is a brilliant idea. Paint scraper meets wax comb. Why didn't I think of that?

Swamis' Magic

For only the second time in my life I surfed Swamis yesterday. I have always avoided the spot due to over crowding. I'm known to stay as local as much as possible but some friends were meeting up there and I decided to give it a shot. I went down not to expect much but ended up having a great time. The energy there is really amazing. It reminded me of surfing Malibu a few years ago. There is something about these sacred spots that have a certain energy that is different than others.

The shot above was from 2005. I printed them out for my friends that Christmas for gifts. When I was at my friend Jason's house he had a copy on his wall. I had completely forgotten I had even taken this shot. I really like it. It shows the personality of Swamis on those huge swells, complete with huge sneaker sets and multiple people on a wave. Click on it to see it full size. Enjoy.

Pizza Fin - By Cheryl Sorg

My neighbor Cheryl sent this over the other day. When I opened it I got both inspired and hungry. I love how she was thoughtful enough to send me a photo. However I would have been really impressed if she had saved me a slice! It looks so good. Hummm... pizza in the form of a fin. Does it get any better? Goda di! (Enjoy)

Surfrider Ponto Beach Clean Up Monday July 6th - Lots of Giveaways

Come join us at Ponto Beach, Monday July 6th from 8am to 11am. The clean up goes as far south as Grandview but all sign in and trash pick up will be at Ponto.  

My friends, Bob and Jan Rogers have been running the Ponto clean up for 11 years now.  The first year had only 12 people who showed up. Last year there were 125. Their biggest turn out yet. I give them a lot of respect for doing this event and the Beacon's Beach clean up each year. They are truly active in our community and are great role models. Thank you Bob and Jan and everyone who shows up on those mornings to give our beaches some love.

Get Free Stuff! There will be lots of giveaways. 

1st 50 get an event tee.

  

Raffle includes: 

DVDs (Fair Bits, Passion Pop, Occy the Documentary, Free as a Dog, The Trilogy) 

Billabong items: (Thanks to Gary Clisby of Billabong for always donating items to these events. He is a Leucadia local and absolutely rips.)

Concert Tickets (The Warp Tour, 311 Concert, Incubus, Concert Pass to Del Mar Fair)

Check out the site for details and the waiver here.

Read Your Surfer's Journal In Peace, Reuse The Packaging As An Art Project

One of my favorite things is to get the Surfer's Journal in the mail.  To open that mail box and find that package is like Christmas. Just like that favorite toy you got when your were 3, you know that for a few days you are going to be glued to that thing. It will be by your bed, in the living room, in the bath room and then finally on that spot on your book shelf where you proudly display your literary tastes for all your friends and family to see.  The SJ is special. It represents a maturity level that only a seasoned surfer can have. It says, I'm a surfer AND I can read.

The last time the journal came to the house I opened the package and sat down to read. This time my 3.5 year old daughter was there and became just as excited.  Although not for the SJ itself, but for the packaging it came in. Once that package was off, the crayons and the fins came out and the fun started. It was a magical moment. I got to read the journal in peace and she got to have an art project. Does it get any better then that?

If you don't own the SJ and want to, support SurfySurfy.net and buy it here.